My first contact with Colombian hospitality was through Oskar. I crossed the border at a bad moment. Just a few hundred meters into the new country it started raining as hell. My clothes were completely soaked and due to the over 3000 meters elevation it felt pretty cold immediately. Although it was not yet noon I called it a day when I reached Ipiales and instead of continuing I contacted Oskar through Warmshowers to have a warm place to stay and a chance to dry all my gear. Oskar lives in an old gas station, which works now as a … Continue reading

After spending almost five months in Peru, I anticipated Ecuador with great excitement. It welcomed straight away with a great sunset from my camp spot near a football and volleyball court in a tiny village a few kilometers from the border. It wasn’t easy riding though. Other cyclists I met, who were coming down from Ecuador, always told me, that the roads are super steep compared to the rather long and steady climbs in Peru. Exactly that was directly the case after I crossed the border. The gradients went up and I saw myself pushing a couple of times up the … Continue reading

After five weeks in the Cordillera Blanca it was finally time to make up some distance again. It started with a long downhill through the Callejón de Huayla and soon after Caraz I entered the Canon del Pato. The Rio Santa cut over centuries this narrow canyon into the mountains, so that the road had to be build through a series of over 30 tunnels. Mangos were in season and incredibly cheap, especially if you bought them straight from the plantation. At one occasion I got the offer to pitch my tent for a night in the orchard underneath some Mango trees. I’m … Continue reading

The Cordillera Blanca is a massive mountain range with many peaks above 6.000m, including Peru’s highest mountain the Huascaran. As the name ‘white range’ already indicates, most of the mountains are covered in ice and snow. Most tropical glaciers on this planet are located here, although due to global warm the ice has already retreated rapidly, apparently over 15 percent during the last 40 years. The water flowing down on the eastern side is feeding the Maranon River, which is one of source rivers of the Amazon. It’s a famous trekking area and of course I planned as well to leave my bike in Huaraz … Continue reading

Paved road or gravel road?? Traffic or loneliness? I’m glad now I decided for the latter. From Huancavelica to Huaraz I rode over Peru’s Great Divide, a series of gravel roads high up in the Andes. (A detailed description you can find on www.andesbybike.com). More than 800 kilometer and over 20,000 meters elevation gain, heaps of passes up to 5000m and deep valleys with steeps climbs afterwards. In short: a lot of climbing. Other cyclists always made clear, that it is essential to go lightweight. Something what you definitely can’t say about my bike. So I was a bit nervous … Continue reading

It wasn’t hard to get stuck in the Casa de Ciclistas in La Paz. A cosy place packed with many other great and crazy cyclists from all over the world. After ten days though, it was time to hit the road again and getting over to Peru. I teamed up with Paul, who just bought a bicycle in La Paz. To get out of the city we had first to climb from La Paz to El Alto, from 3600m to over 4000m along a busy road. That are not the best conditions to start cycle touring, but Paul did well and after … Continue reading

A last view on the Salar de Uyuni. It had been one of the most amazing rides ever and I was unsure what would follow now in Bolivia, as I just had focused on the lagoon route and this massive salt pan. As well those two weeks were pretty tiring, physically as mentally. So I was glad when I had hit surprisingly a tarmac road soon after leaving the salt. I was actually prepared for another few days of gravel, as my maps indicated that, but Bolivia’s president Evo Morales has invested a lot into the infrastructure over the recent years, so … Continue reading

After a leg killing climb from San Pedro up to a 4600m pass, it went down to Bolivia. The border control wasn’t quite that what you would expect. There was just little shed – Welcome to Bolivia. After getting two stamps for a 60 day visa I could start the infamous lagoon route. I heard all those stories about the worst roads on the world and kilometers of pushing through sand. So of course I was excited, how it would really be. From the border a tailwind pushed me to the first of the many lagoons Laguna Blanca. The road … Continue reading

After a rest day in Fiambala I headed on. To be honest my motivation to cycle was quite low. Over the last two weeks I was always focused on getting over the Paso de San Francisco and that was done now. I needed a new goal. Luckily I bumped in to Luis, who was on the way back south to his home city San Juan. I joined him and we had two great cycling days. After more than two months of cycling along I enjoyed having some company, it’s so different to have conversation. When we reached a junction with … Continue reading

When I arrived in Los Andes I had no idea where to stay. After having some tough days I was mentally ready for a break of few days, but as usually things worked out perfectly for me. While I was searching for a free open WiFi connection, to check if I got an answer from a Warmshowers hosts I had contacted a few days earlier, I bumped into a bicycle shop. I had to buy a new helmet, as my one disappeared on a campground a few weeks ago. One of the guys in the shops, Jaime, was really interested … Continue reading

In Las Lajas I stocked up with food and left into the vastness of the Ruta 40. Lots of southbound cyclist I had met had taken a bus on this section. According to them it would be just too boring to cycle it. Well, I still have the intention to cycle every kilometer, so taking a bus has never been an option anyways. Remembering Australia, where I cycled over 3000km in the outback and still loved it, I couldn’t imagine being bored so soon out there. The Ruta 40 or in Spanish Ruta Quarenta is Argentina’s longest road and even … Continue reading

The Nahuel Huapi Lake around Bariloche In Bariloche it was time for another longer break and again Yasko and I could stay in a Casa de Ciclistas. Thanks to Esteban, who opens his beautiful house for cyclists like us. It was s a bit away from the city center and first we were swearing about this location, as we had to climb up a steep hill on a pretty hot day when we arrived there. Another problem was to find his house. House numbers in Argentina apparently aren’t logic at all. But eventually we succeded and just crashed down in the … Continue reading

The Casa de Ciclistas in El Chalten was exactly what I needed. As the name says it’s a house for cyclists. Florencia, who’s the owner, lets touring cyclists camp for free in her garden. As El Chalten is a bottleneck for cyclists in Patagonia, there were lots of people passing through everyday, some days up to 15. The kitchen was the center of the house. Here we cooked and ate together, information and stories were shared. I just loved the atmosphere and it felt a bit like a home. Also to be surrounded with the same people for a few … Continue reading

Through the Pampa When I arrived in Puntas Arenas I also reached America’s mainland for the first time. After those hard days cycling against the wind on a bad gravel road I was ready for some rest. I found a couchsurfing host, where I could stay for a night. Sleeping in a bed was just feeling great. My plan was to head on the next day, but the weather forecast said there would be winds up to 100km/h. I didn’t see me cycling in that strong wind und decided to stay another night on a campground. It was the first … Continue reading

I had never thought, that this trip will get me to South America when I was at the check-in at the airport in Auckland, I had not really realized it either. As a child I was often starring fascinated on Tierra del Fuego on a map imagining how it would look like down there. And soon I would be there. Crazy feeling. I didn’t just cross the Pacific but also the date line, so was the date and time of the landing before the start. In Buenos Aires I had a 12 hour stopover, where I even had to change … Continue reading

With leaving the South Island I was leaving behind also the most spectacular areas New Zealand’s and now I was riding for most of the time through endless rolling farmland back towards Auckland. Though it was eventually warm and it the summer had finally started. On some days it felt even nearly too hot for riding and I had to avoid the sun now. What I forgot first and I immediately punished with sunburn. It’s not easy and sometimes nearly impossible to find a place for wild camping in farmland, as there’s everything fenced and I didn’t want to jump … Continue reading